Thursday, July 26, 2012

Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.

Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now.Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs.

Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?

First off, who else has THIS pop into their heads at the mere mention of this title? HAPPENS EVERY TIME. I know I can't be the only one!

So, this was my first Melissa Walker book and I can say it definitely won't be my last. The synopsis for it immediately peaked my interest since there aren't too many books out there that have a main character with you know, actual faults, especially acting on The Big No-No, aka falling for your bff's boyfriend. But we're all human, we all have faults, we all make mistakes, and so did she. I liked that.

I also liked the cast of characters consisting of Clem, her mom and dad, her super adorable little sister Olive, that I'll be honest, stole the show for a lot of the book, and fellow sailors including the very cute James who--along with his father--is on the same sailing route. Oh, and there was also Clem's "best friend" Amanda and Ethan, the boy in the middle, who of course, isn't at all at fault for what went down. Sigh.

Teenagers are dramatic as it is, but add in the love triangle drama, and what most of them would consider a dreadful family vacation, and I think Walker captured the angst, turmoil and despair Clementine went through perfectly. While she definitely isn't particularly pleasant throughout the entire novel (especially towards her family), her growth and development comes full circle and shines through by the conclusion.

A story that dealt with everything from friendship, love and family dynamics, this was a great coming of age novel with the perfect balance of adolescent hardships and fun. The epitome of a summer read!